


The Whims of Legends

by FeathersAndFury



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Adventure, Gen, Transformation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-03-09 12:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13481703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeathersAndFury/pseuds/FeathersAndFury
Summary: After the events of Pokémon Sun and Moon, Selene (Moon) awakes from a nightmare, and finds herself in a completely different body. Confused and alone, she travels across Alola to complete the mission given to her by the mysterious forces of her nightmare: preventing Lusamine from opening ultra wormholes and causing chaos throughout the region.Update: I have been revamping the story, which is why I have not updated in a long time. I've deleted and updated the chapters to the new version - sorry for anyone who is probably very confused by this! I just want my fic to make more sense.





	1. Chapter 1

After all that had happened to her, the girl wanted nothing but to be home underneath the comfort of her sheets. Eleven years old, and she, along with another girl her age and a legendary Pokémon, had saved the region of Alola from the Aether Foundation’s maniacal president. Ultra Space was like nothing the girl had ever seen or felt before, with tons of strange, alien creatures floating all around. The atmosphere reminded her of being underwater – dark and suffocating. She sensed something wrong about her party’s being there, but had to shake it off to complete her mission.

            Now Selene laid in bed, within the throes of a nightmare. She felt so small, so vulnerable. Unable to move, unable to see. It was so dark. Soon, two giant blobs of color entered her vision, transforming into monsters she had never seen before. They roared, and Selene covered her ears, but in vain. Something was happening to her. She felt like she was on a roller coaster that was on fire, a burning sensation combined with what felt like vast amounts of wind thrashing her in every direction.

            The two massive creatures were closer now, their roars turning into what was beginning to sound like speech. The pink one spoke first.

“Human child…you have a very important role to fulfill.”

Now, the blue one. “We, the keepers of time and space, are in need of assistance from those such as yourself, exceptional individuals within your worlds.”

“Though we are powerful, beasts beyond your imagining are waging war with us – we need you to go backwards in your timeline, and stop them from being forcibly drawn to your dimension. You know who it is that you must apprehend.”

As they spoke, Selene managed to move a little. When she looked down at herself, she gazed in shock at the transformation her body had gone under. She was human no longer. She was about to ask the creatures why, but they answered for her.

“Forgive us. The purpose of this radical change to your being is all in our plan. It will help you fulfill your role, though you may not understand this now.”

“We cannot help you after sending you away, so remember this,” The pink one floated a bit closer, its dark eyes staring directly into Selene’s. “the child of the sun and the moon is the one you must protect. If it is found and captured, then you will have failed. In failure, your dimension will be overrun and overtaken by beasts.”

At that, Selene managed to find her voice, though it was shaky.

“But why – why does it have to be me? What if I can’t do this!?”

But neither of the two creatures answered, instead they slowly faded away.

A wave of black was suddenly upon her vision, and she could not hear, nor see any more. Selene’s consciousness slowly faded as she felt the darkness all around her swallow her up.

-

            Selene awoke slowly, blinking away the blurriness in her vision. She wasn’t in her room, but outside. It was nighttime. She fought to breathe for a moment, feeling as if a heavy weight was on her chest. She lifted up her head, then made to stand up, but suddenly found herself flopping back down. She felt the unmistakable feel of sand as she slid. Selene then noticed something else. During the fall, she had put her hands up to protect herself. However, when she looked at them, she saw they were not hands at all. Two fluffy orange paws greeted her as she held them up in front of her face. _No, no – this can’t be real! That dream…_ As she examined them, she twisted them around somewhat to see the undersides. Pink paw pads and tiny, dull claws. Selene then turned her head to look at the rest of her body. More orange fur, two more paws that once were her legs, and six tails that were tipped with white. _A Vulpix…_

            Selene had no idea what to think. Her head began to hurt as she remembered what she had been told in the dream, though it was fairly fuzzy. Along with that, she began to notice new senses – she could smell more, hear more, and seemed to even see differently. Colors that she knew before, she couldn’t see now. Selene felt like she wanted to cry from the overstimulation, and let out a little whimper. _Where’s my mom? Kukui? My friends?_ Tears began to slide down Selene’s short muzzle as she panicked. _How far back in time is this? Those things didn’t tell me that!_

            She figured maybe this was simply another nightmare. Selene pushed herself to stand up, unsteady on four legs. She lifted up a foreleg, and bit down hard on it. She waited, enduring the pain with eyes shut tight, then opened them to look around. She was still outside in the dead of night, on a beach unknown to her, and she was still a Pokémon. Before she could start crying again, Selene wanted to get off of the beach and figure out where she was. Through sniffles, she walked carefully up in the direction of some tall grass, tripping on herself every now and then.

            -

            Selene wandered around until dawn broke across the horizon. She avoided other Pokémon as best as she could, staying out of the grass and away from trees where bird Pokémon like Spearow slept. Though she was now a Vulpix, Selene had no idea how to use her new-found power. From what she remembered growing up in Kanto, most Vulpix could use moves like Ember and Scratch. As Selene thought, the light of morning grew brighter, and she began to recognize where she was at last. Definitely Melemele Island, she soon found she was on the route by the hotel and cemetery. She wondered why the creatures – legendary Pokémon, she assumed, would send her to wake up there. She was remembering what they had told her now, to protect Nebby, or Cosmog from Lusamine. Selene began to cautiously make her way over to Professor Kukui’s research lab. She was thankful it was so early, as a thought crossed her mind that any natives would be very curious about a stray Pokémon that wasn’t from the region. To be safe, when she neared the streets of Hau‘oli City she ran as fast as she could, hoping to avoid any curious people.

            Once she reached what she knew to be her house, she stopped, panting heavily. The heat of Alola was starting to get to her now that the sun was coming up, and though she was a fire type now, she felt overheated. With quick pants of breath came small little embers, to Selene’s surprise. It seemed to make her cool down, though, so she thought not much more of it. She took a few moments to regain her composure, looking at the house. There was a for sale sign in the front yard, she noticed. _They must have sent me back to before I moved here…mom is back in Kanto, then. I’m alone here…_

Thinking of her mother, Selene turned tail and made her way down to the small beach where the lab shack was, hopping down the ledges and startling a few Pikipek hopping along the ground. She nearly squealed with joy when she spotted the professor with his Rockruff out on the beach, practicing moves.

“C’mon! Hit me with a Tackle!”

“Ruff!”

            Selene watched the little dog Pokémon launch itself straight into Kukui’s abs, knocking him back a little bit. The professor laughed heartily, stooping over to pick up a clipboard laying in the sand. He retrieved a pencil from behind his ear, marking something on the paper. Selene decided now was the time to get his attention.

“Hey! Professor Kukui!”

Kukui turned around suddenly, startled. He looked down at the little Vulpix wagging its many tails and yipping at him, tilting his head.

“What’s this? Where’d you come from, little cousin? You look like you’re not from around here.” He crouched and extended his hand to it, while it continued making excited noises.

“Kukui, listen to me! I’m not really a Pokemon, I’m, uh…” Selene stopped herself before she got any further.

The Rockruff standing nearby had a similar expression to Kukui, titled head and all. It stepped towards her, and Selene backed up a little. She hadn’t yet met another Pokémon on this level before. To her shock, he began to speak to her.

“Uh, why are you trying to talk to him? Humans can’t understand us.”

Selene stared at Rockruff for a moment before answering, her gaze switching from him to Kukui. “I, um, I didn’t know…”

Rockruff’s eyes widened. “Didn’t know? You must be pretty young, then.” He extended his neck forward, sniffing intensely. “You smell weird, cousin. Not from around here?”

_Cousin? He sounds like Kukui…_ “I – No, I live here, but that’s not really important right now! Is there a girl named Lillie around here?”

“Lillie? No, sorry. Is that your trainer?”

Selene almost laughed at the idea. If anything, it was the other way around. A spark of anxiety shot through her, but she quickly realized that this was likely before Lillie had escaped Aether Paradise.

“No, she isn’t. But it’s really, _really_ important that I find her.” Selene bowed her head to Rockruff in a plea. “Please, I need help. Something really bad is going to happen if I c-can’t protect Lillie…”

Selene began to sob, the weight of her responsibility overwhelming her. Rockruff looked up at Kukui, whining softly. The Professor’s normally cheerful expression was unchanged, but the tone of his voice was calm and soft.

“A Kantonian Vulpix…I haven’t seen one of you little guys for years now.” Kukui Straightened himself up and turned to the lab shack. “Vulpix, do you want to go with me and Rockruff to my lab for a little while? Whatever’s wrong, we can figure it out together.”

Selene nodded, following them inside the rough-looking shack that was the lab.


	2. Chapter 2

Though Kukui couldn’t understand Selene, he could decipher some of what Rockruff was trying to tell him. The close bonds that trainer shared with their Pokémon enabled them the ability to better understand what Pokémon were saying, but it wasn’t perfect.

“So you’re looking for a person, huh? But you don’t know where they are?” Kukui scratched his beard, thinking. “That’s troubling. I suppose you can stay here with me, and I can send out an alert for a lost Pokémon in the meantime. Is that okay with you, Vulpix?”

“Vul…”

“It’s going to be okay! We’ll find your person soon, I promise.”

Kukui went into the kitchen area of the lab, writing a note on the dry-erase board hanging on the refrigerator. “Yeah, but for now you can be safe here. There’s a group out here in Alola that’s been causing a bit of trouble for everyone – and if they saw you, they’d probably try to catch you.”

She knew immediately who he was talking about. Selene snorted at the thought of Team Skull catching her. They were thugs, sure, but they weren’t that smart. Most Alolans treated them like the nuisances they were, even though sometimes they did cause some real damage. Their leader, Guzma, was the most dangerous of them all. He was the only one who was really feared due to his reputation in and outside of battle. Selene couldn’t believe she had to save him from being stuck in Ultra Space with Lusamine – but even she had felt bad for him when Lusamine didn’t answer after being asked if she even cared that he was stuck in Ultra Space along with her. Selene was sure he had been listening, likely soaking in the fact that the crazed woman had simply appealed to his need to be recognized for his strength in an effort to manipulate him.

But that wasn’t important anymore. And where Selene was now, that moment in time had no relevance. She would have to look out for members of Team Skull once Lillie escaped with Cosmog, but they were fairly easy to deal with as far as she was concerned. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to come across Guzma, or any of the grunts for that matter.

Selene let her thoughts drift as she looked at all the lab’s Pokémon play-fighting in a corner, Rockruff wrestling with Snubbull while Poliwhirl and Stufful flexed their muscles to see who was tougher. There was Murkrow, too. She often hung out in the upper loft, however, and wasn’t very social.

Selene thought it was probably a good idea to introduce herself if she was going to be here for the foreseeable future.

-

A few days had gone by, and Professor Kukui was perplexed that no one had yet come to pick up the little lost Vulpix. However, Selene had settled in more or less easily with the other lab Pokemon, knowing that Lillie would show up sooner or later. And she was right.

On Akala Island Lillie had collapsed on a beach somewhere near the Dimensional Research lab trying to find it, soon to be found by Professor Burnet herself.

Burnet called Kukui right after, sounding frantic. As soon as Lillie was brought back to the lab shack, Selene was overjoyed. This was a part of Lillie’s history that she didn’t like to talk about, so to experience it with her was something else.

Lillie was scared out of her mind, but soon realized that nobody meant her any harm, and Nebby, or Cosmog, would be safe. Kukui and Burnet listened with great interest of the dire consequences Lillie had found herself in, exchanging glances every now and again. It was then decided that Lillie would stay with Kukui in the upper loft of the lab. She was so grateful, she started crying.

After that, Selene watched over Lillie and Cosmog day and night, anxious that the Aether Foundation would find them. As a Pokemon, Selene bonded more easily with Cosmog, since Lillie was rather shy. Not being a trainer, Lillie was confused why any Pokémon would try so hard to gain her favor. It was no cause for concern, of course. Professor Kukui thought maybe Lillie merely resembled someone in Selene’s past. Not too far from the truth, but there was no way Selene could tell him that. This was a Lillie that Selene didn’t know – she wasn’t necessarily a different person, but she wasn’t the same Lillie either.

Selene had never had reason to ponder the idea before, but she realized that both people and Pokémon are shaped by their past. Their personalities, their thoughts, feelings, and life ahead were all dependent on previous experiences. If she were a different Selene, maybe a Selene from another dimension – would she handle this situation in a completely different way? Was there maybe another Selene going through this right now, or was she the only one, chosen by mysterious Pokémon to protect their respective dimensions?

-

One afternoon a few weeks later, Lillie was assisting Professor Kukui while he did some tests on the beach with his battling team. Being a move fanatic, of course he would use his own powerful Pokémon to study moves that could devastate in battle. Selene remembered back when she had first moved to Alola the conversation between her mother and Kukui of his battling skills. Maybe Selene would have faced against him if she had made it to the league? Nonetheless, it was impressive to see.

While that was happening, the lab shack Pokémon were either watching the tests or playing around the beach. Selene had tried to start using moves a while ago, but she just couldn’t do it. Something within her failed every time. This wasn’t yet an issue as she hadn’t needed to fight anything yet, but it did concern her. If something did come up – like if the Aether Foundation had managed to track Lillie down – Selene wouldn’t be able to do anything but bite some ankles.

However, she wasn’t worrying about that at the moment. Poliwhirl was shooting Water Guns in an effort to tag Selene, but she had become skilled at dodging them. She found that whenever the water hit her, it made her feel weak. Thankfully, the same was not true if Selene were to be hit by a wave of regular ocean water.

Just when she thought she was getting pretty good at dodging, Poliwhirl threw her a screwball. Selene suddenly felt very tired as she watched Poliwhirl’s swirly belly marking spin around and around. Once she had fallen asleep to the Hypnosis, Poliwhirl let loose a powerful Water Gun that sent her flying across the beach, out of sight.

-

“Hey, what’s that?”

Two girls were relaxing on the beach far from Kukui’s lab when they spotted an orange ball of fluff flying through the air.

“You look. I’m busy tanning.” The younger of the two muttered.

The older girl rolled her eyes, standing up and brushing off sand from her legs. She stalked toward the mysterious object with caution.

“Oh, it’s a Pokémon!” The girl gently prodded the creature, concerned. Selene had fallen into a very deep sleep due to the Hypnosis, but even she was awake she would be weak from the Water Gun.

“What kind of Pokemon is it? We could use some extra cash, you know.” The younger girl called out, not bothering to look.

The girl scooped up Selene carefully in her arms and brought her over.

“I don’t know, I haven’t seen one like this before.”

“Really?”

They both paused for a moment, then cheered together. Their crummy day had definitely taken an upturn.


	3. Chapter 3

Selene still had not awoken when the girls reached Ula’Ula Island. If she had, it would have been clear to her who the sisters took orders from. Though not wearing any Team Skull paraphernalia, the girls met up with a few other kids along the way through Malie City, exchanging nods of recognition, but nothing more. Some members of Team Skull were obnoxious about belonging, so they flaunted themselves wherever they went. But many, if they were simply going to walk through the city to find something to eat, didn’t want any trouble.

The only way to get to Po Town without the aid of a Flying-type Pokémon was to trek through the rocky terrain around Blush Mountain, pass through the remnants of Tapu Village, and finally swim until you reached the entrance to Ula’Ula Meadow. If you couldn’t find a boat, that is. It was midafternoon by the time the girls reached the shore next to Aether House, at some point they had swapped their swimsuits for Team Skull uniforms and proudly showed their shiny silver chain necklaces, their demeanor seeming to change into something more confident.

Team Skull had acquired a boat, not a fancy one, but enough for transportation across the sea to their headquarters. Once the girls had given the password to the driver, they were off. Selene began to stir a little from all the rocking, but not enough to fully wake up. The sisters could barely hold in their excitement, hoping that the boss would be pleased and that they would get a good cut of money from whatever he could sell the Pokémon for. They practically raced across the boardwalk in Ula’Ula Meadow.

With a nod to the many standing guard along the way, and a password, they were now inside the perpetually storming Po Town.

-

The leader of Team Skull was known for being loud, abrasive, and tough. He was also hard to impress, which Selene sleepily realized once he was leering over the two Skull girls as they held her out for him to look at. The pouring rain had finally woken her up. Being so small, he was even more intimidating to her than before. She would have been more alarmed if she didn’t feel so weak and tired.

“So, this thing is supposed to be rare, huh?” He was sitting on his makeshift throne, arms crossed. He didn't show it, but was surprised that the girls didn't seem to know what a Kantonian Vulpix was.

“Yeah, boss! We don’t know what it is.”

“It flew through the air and landed in front of us on the beach. No trainer, no nothin’.”

The girls trembled as they waited for a response from their fearsome leader. Selene’s ears went flat against her head as Guzma looked her in the eye, and she wondered what exactly was going on behind those wild eyes of his.

A few moments passed, and then something happened. Selene was dripping wet with rain, and a droplet of water went down her forelocks to her nose, tickling it. With no way to stop it, she sneezed directly into Guzma’s face, spewing snot and an unexpected blast of fire. Guzma flailed around ungracefully, vocalizing his displeasure and causing the two grunts to back away fearfully. Selene was dropped on the ground with a thud.

“Boss! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to –“

Guzma stopped writhing, holding his burned face with one hand while the other slammed down on the arm of his chair.

“Put that thing in its ball _right_ _now_.” He was gritting his teeth, trying to hold back his anger.

“We didn’t catch it boss, it doesn’t have a ball…” One of the girls said, glancing frantically at the other grunt. Guzma’s wrath was not something either of them ever wanted to be a recipient of.

“Alright. Leave it here and close the door behind you.” He growled out his orders, slowly rising from his chair. “I’ll take care of this. You’ll get rewarded later.”

The grunts left as quickly as possible, relieved they were spared. Selene, however, had nowhere to run.

-

He stepped forward, reaching for a pokeball in his pocket.

“Let’s go, Ariados!”

Out popped the brightly colored spider, wiggling the two antennae on its abdomen as it eyed Selene with anticipation.

Selene wasn’t especially fond of bug-type Pokémon, especially the ones that skittered across the ground in front of her at night. It became one of the reasons she hated travelling through forests, never quite recovering from the time a Spinarak dropped down from a tree onto her head. Adrenaline running through her body, Selene’s gut reaction to Ariados being so close to her, and almost the same size – was to scream.

It came out more like a squeal, but along with it a spray of fire came shooting out of her jaws. Ariados backed up a bit, being weak to fire. Guzma, however, wasted no time.

“Ariados, avoid that and hit em’ with Shadow Sneak!”

The spider suddenly disappeared from Selene’s view. She knew what kind of attack Shadow Sneak was, and tried to move out of the way. She wasn’t fast enough, however, and was slammed into from behind, the force sending her flying across the room into the frame of Guzma’s bed. The hit took a good deal of energy from her, but once again she tried to make a run for it.

“Don’t let it get away! Use Infestation!”

Selene seized with pain as a tidal wave of what felt like millions of sharp little legs moved over her body. She had seen this move being used before, but never imagined it felt like this.

While she could barely move, Guzma reached into his pocket for a pokeball, rearing back an arm before pitching it with expert accuracy at her. Sweat formed along his brow as the excitement of hoping for a catch overtook him, fists clenched in anticipation. He only ever used Ultra balls to catch Pokémon with, but they didn’t always work. He watched as the pokeball finally stopped shaking, and pumped his fist in the air victoriously.

“Yeah! Good job, Ariados, we got it!” Guzma reached into his other pocket for a Poke Bean, which Ariados happily took from his hand, also receiving a pleasant pat on the head.

He set the pokeball on the same table where his laptop would have been. Curiously, there wasn’t one there. Guzma then exited his room, only to return very late into the night.

-

The next morning, Guzma awoke feeling groggy as usual. He returned all of his Pokémon to their balls, as they preferred to be out at night, surrounding him protectively while he slept. He found his jacket and shoes strewn about on the floor, putting them on and noticing with disgust that they smelled. But when there was barely any power in Po Town, what was to be done about it? Team Skull had to rely on electric type Pokémon for their power, as any lines leading into Po Town were switched off due to it being abandoned.

But he didn’t feel like thinking about that right now. Guzma turned his attention to the pokeball sitting on the little table by his throne.

Just as he was about to put Selene’s pokeball in his pocket for later, she burst out of it explosively, sufficiently freaked out. The time spent in the ball had made her well-rested, but it was all too weird. Many times she had wondered what it was like inside of a Pokeball, and now she knew, and she didn’t want to go back. She had heard of some Pokemon not wanting to go into their balls, and now understood exactly why. She didn’t belong in one of those things.

Selene stood in front of Guzma, feeling a weird sense of loyalty to him, but at the same time very afraid of him. He looked down at her, a bit surprised.

“Yo, I didn’t call you. Get back in the ball.” He held it out, the energy inside trying to coax her back in. She refused, smacking the ball out of his hand.

Guzma rolled his eyes, going to pick up the pokeball to try again when he was interrupted by a knock at the door.

“It’s open.”

“Ey, boss. One of the grunts is hanging off the roof and we need your help to get her down.” It was Plumeria, her expression unchanged from the frown she always wore.

“This early? Fine, just gimme a second.” He tried again to get Selene to go into the ball, and again she smacked it away. He was quickly growing frustrated when Plumeria put a hand on his shoulder, grabbing his attention.

“You can deal with that later, G. I really don’t think that girl’s gonna last much longer.”

Guzma muttered agreement and left Selene and her ball alone, closing the door behind him.

She stared at the ball, then around the room. This was bad. How had she gotten here? And what exactly was Guzma going to do with her now? Selene couldn’t remember a thing that led up to her capture.

In her panic, she paced around the room a bit, looking for an exit that wasn’t the door. There was none, unfortunately. Guzma’s room had no windows or anything that might offer an alternative escape. She padded to the door, stretching upwards to try the doorknob. She wasn’t quite tall enough. She poised to try and make a jump for it, but suddenly felt something poking her back.

Selene yelped fearfully, spinning around only to be faced with an object of terror.

Ariados had been sleeping underneath the bed up until Guzma left, but awoke during the commotion.

“Hey. Calm down a little.”

“W-what do you want?” Selene distanced herself far from the spider, hair standing on end.

“Hm. I wanted to warn you about something.” Ariados was not a very emotive Pokémon, but his voice sounded grave.

“A-about what? If it’s about the pokeball, I’m not going back in there!” Selene glanced at the ball on the floor with utter disgust.

“No, not that. Don’t get too attached to Guzma, he might not be keeping you.”

This didn’t surprise her, as Guzma didn’t seem to like cute, fluffy Pokémon like Vulpix. “O-oh? That…might actually be a good thing...”

This immediately made Ariados angry. “What!? Guzma is the best trainer you could ever hope for, you brat! You should be lucky he caught you instead of one of the dumb kids running around here!”

“No, no – there’s a good reason I don’t want this!”

“Uh-huh. And what’s that?”

This was the first chance Selene had so far to explain her situation to someone who could understand her. She took in a deep breath.

“I’m not a Pokemon! I’m a human – and if I don’t do something soon, Alola’s going to be attacked by beasts from other dimensions ‘cuz there’s this crazy lady who -”

Ariados simply stared at her, not really understanding. But before any more could be said, Guzma was back, along with Plumeria and the grunt who had almost fallen off the roof. She was trembling from the adrenaline and embarrassment of having to be saved by her superiors, but thankful nonetheless.

“Alright, alright. You’re welcome and whatever. Just don’t try to break dance on the roof again!”

“Yeah, you know we can’t afford the hospital bill if you split your head open, right?” Plumeria produced a towel from somewhere and handed it to the girl grunt. “Here, wipe off the rain with this.”

Seeing that everything was fine, Guzma pushed the two girls out. “Okay, get out of my room. I was busy doin’ something.” He pat the grunt on the back before he closed the door. “You know I got my homies’ backs, right? Just don’t do stupid stuff like that too often.”

The grunt blushed fiercely at his words, but nodded in thanks before being led away by Plumeria. Guzma smiled genuinely before turning his attention back to Selene and the ball situation.

“And now there’s you for me to deal with. Hey, Ariados, ya making friends or something?” He crouched down to caress the spider Pokémon, who honestly wasn’t sure how to react to what Selene had just said. He was intensely curious, though.

“I’m sorry – but you expect me to believe that you’re really a human?” He pointed with an appendage to Guzma, who was looking for Selene’s pokeball. “Like G and Plumes? What exactly happened to you?”

Selene was relieved Ariados didn’t immediately write her off as crazy. “I don’t really know. I was asleep in my bed at home when I think I started having a nightmare. I can’t remember a lot, but I thought I saw these two huge _things_ standing in front of me, and they spoke to me…” She absentmindedly scratched an ear with a paw, in a way that to Ariados looked very human. “They told me I had to stop a great danger coming here. And after that I woke up on a beach looking like this.”

Guzma found the pokeball, which Selene had swatted under the bed. He came back to them and squatted in that way that everyone in Team Skull seemed to have adopted – except for Plumeria.

“This time when I tell you to return, you go back in the ball. Understand?” He gave Selene an authoritative glare, but she shook her head and turned away with a whimper.

Guzma was growing tired of this. There was no way he could sell the Vulpix to anybody if it wouldn’t go in its ball. He’d dealt with stolen Pokemon that were difficult many times before, but none of them refused to be in their ball. Most preferred it, actually. Maybe something was wrong with it?

Selene didn’t expect to be picked up, and gave a startled squeak when Guzma started manhandling her. He wasn’t very gentle as he examined her from all angles, before staring her in the eyes with an expression like he was thinking very hard.

“You know, I’ve never really like fire types very much. They’re always beatin’ down on my team, so they’re all scared of fire.” He carefully set Selene back down on the floor. “But you look so weak, you couldn’t possibly be a threat. I think I’ll keep you so Ariados and the rest can have someone to fight against with a type disadvantage. I think I should introduce everyone to ya.” Guzma dug around in his seemingly bottomless pockets and pulled out all of his pokeballs, each one holding a valued member of his team.

Selene braced herself for whatever was coming next.


	4. Chapter 4

One by one, out popped Golisopod, Scizor, Pinsir, and Masquerain with a bright beam of red energy. They all greeted Guzma warmly with nuzzles and various sounds of delight, which he reciprocated with an equal amount of affection. After they had settled down, Guzma pointed to Selene on the floor.

“I know this is sudden, but this here is our new team member. Vulpix is a fire type, so I thought it might be good for ya’ll to train with it.” All of Guzma’s Pokémon except for Golisopod and Ariados reacted negatively at the words _fire type_. They all turned to look down at Selene, who was equally as nervous about them as they were about her.

The first one to step forward was Golisopod. He was taller than even Guzma, who was very tall for a human despite his slouching posture. The giant stooped down to inspect Selene, twitching his antennae with curiosity. Selene stiffened as she felt Golisopod’s purple feelers touching her head, snuffling all over her.

“U-um, can you stop doing that please?” Selene backed up after a few moments, the fur on top of her head ruffled considerably.

“Oh. Sorry about that.” Golisopod’s voice was unsurprisingly very deep, but also fairly quiet. “I thought I might hurt you if I touched you with my claws, you don’t seem to have any armor on you.”

Selene looked up at his big arms, and then the smaller ones lower on his body. The dark claws on the end of each were thick, shiny, and very sharp looking.

“You’re probably right…”

The other Pokémon followed suit, examining the furry little creature who didn’t really fit in with all the thick-shelled bugs surrounding her. However, they all exchanged greetings in their own ways and soon enough the awkward atmosphere in the room disappeared. Selene never thought that a tough bunch of bugs would be so friendly, especially in contrast to their trainer. Guzma was not very nice, if the fear the grunts displayed around him was any indication. Selene remembered the two times she had battled him and how his explosive temper had taken him over from the losses. If that was how angry he got with himself, she could only imagine the rage he showed in private with his team members.

Even so, his Pokémon adored him. There must be a side to him that she simply hadn’t experienced yet. Though it was hard to imagine, surely even someone like him could be nice sometimes?

-

Selene had spent the rest of the day trying to avoid her captor, as he stomped around the mansion and grounds of Po Town, giving out orders and intimidating the grunts. She wondered if this was just everyday life for them, aimlessly wandering around and causing trouble for other people.

Besides that, she worried incessantly about Lillie and Cosmog. Maybe they were worried about her, too? She had been missing for the better half of the day, and it definitely looked like she wouldn’t be able to escape easily. She had already tried to make a run for it a few times, but was caught by Guzma easily. He resorted to locking her inside his room with Ariados so she couldn’t keep trying.

Selene curled up on the big, soft bed haphazardly pushed against the wall and thought. She couldn’t climb the huge walls surrounding the town, and she doubted the grunts guarding the entrance would just let her leave, no matter how much she begged. Selene looked up at Guzma, who was slouching in his throne busying himself with an old Gameboy game. He hadn’t really paid her too much attention, besides making sure she didn’t run away from him. Ariados also took it upon himself to watch her, aware that she would try to bolt at any time. It was possible that there could be a crack in the walls somewhere big enough for her to escape through, but she couldn’t explore by herself with them as lookouts.

She would simply have to wait until late into the night to try again.

-

As soon as she was sure everyone was asleep, Selene crept gingerly across the bed where Guzma lay, grinding his teeth as he slept. The other Pokémon were resting at various places in the room, some snoring. She leapt and landed lightly upon the carpet, thankful for being both light-weight and having soft paw pads for once. Wasting no time, Selene positioned herself underneath the doorknob, poising to spring upwards at it.

She jumped, stretching her forelegs out and catching the knob, maneuvering her paws to turn it quickly and pushing with her back legs on the wall to get the door to move inward. She fell off on the first try, but was successful on the second. The door creaked open just enough for her to make it through.

Now was the more difficult part.

Selene made a beeline for the open window that led to the rooftops, and once outside, soon became drenched with cold rain. She stared out across the darkness of Po Town, scanning for any stray grunts that might see her. Nobody was around. She made her way across the slick rooftops slowly, wary of the danger they posed. Once she reached the west side of the mansion, she looked for some way down. The empty pool had a small structure with a roof that, if she was careful, she could jump onto and climb down.

_I can’t quit now…!_

Selene backed up several feet, then closed her eyes as she sprinted across the roof, leaping into the cold air. But, just as she feared, she felt herself falling fast. She hadn’t been able to get far enough.

She hit the grass below with a hard thud, a yelp escaping her lips. She felt the sting of pain all over, able to do nothing but pant heavily as her body recovered from the shock. A minute passed. And then another. Slowly, Selene struggled to her feet and looked around wearily. There was still no one around.

She forced herself to keep going, heading for the looming walls surrounding Po Town.

By the time the sun had risen, Selene had walked the perimeter of the walls, finding no cracks or holes. She was hurt, tired, and sodden with rain. But she didn’t want to give up yet. She found a place near the entrance to lie down, and waited. As soon as a grunt went in or out, she would bolt through that open gate.

-

“Oh, no.”

Guzma had a feeling this would happen. He looked all around the room after realizing that Selene was gone, only to have it pointed out to him by Pinsir that the door was ever so slightly open.

He threw on his clothes and immediately set to work in finding the little fox. He didn’t feel angry yet, it was too early for that. But he wasn’t exactly in a good mood, either. Enlisting the help of Masquerain and Ariados, he told the rest to stay behind and wait for him to come back. If he couldn’t find Vulpix before the time training usually started, he would just give up.

_No sense in wasting my time looking for a brat that doesn’t like me anyway…_

He suspected she had gone outside the mansion, so he wasted no time with looking indoors. He asked every grunt he passed if they had seen her, but none of them had. He reached the front gates of Po Town, pushing aside the guards without saying anything.

-

Tears fell from Selene’s short muzzle as she forced herself to keep moving. She didn’t want to think at all about how it was possible that she may have broken something from the fall, or how tired she was, or how badly she wanted something good to eat. She just kept going, hiding herself from people every chance she got.

But once she had reached the beach outside of Ula’ula Meadow, she didn’t know what to do. A wide expanse of ocean that, as a human, she needed a Sharpedo to cross, was in front of her. She wondered why the mysterious Pokémon who had sent her on this grave mission did not turn her into a Squirtle instead. The thought of swimming all that way simply exhausted her, but there was no other choice.

Selene waded in up to her neck in the cold ocean water, shivering but quickly getting used to it. Taking a deep breath, she began to swim.


	5. Chapter 5

She had pushed herself too far. Selene grew more and more tired until she could swim no more, and had started to sink. She was barely half the way to the small island between Aether House and where she had begun.

As she sank beneath the waves, her body relaxed. It felt like she was floating in space, surrounded by nothing. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t see, couldn’t hear. It was as if she were back in the nightmare that started this journey.

A Tentacool bobbing just beneath the waves witnessed her body, and seeing an easy opportunity for prey, it reached out and wrapped a tentacle around her. Upon bringing her closer, it oozed poison into her, weakening her further. Instinctually, she fought back against the poison, but was quickly losing whatever breath she had left.

It seemed like this would be her end, dying alone where nobody would ever find her.

But it wasn’t. By the grace of Arceus, as Masquerain fluttered above the ocean looking for any signs of the little fox, he inspected some bubbles erupting from the water. Staring closer, he realized that a Tentacool had something odd in its grip.

Masquerain released an Energy Ball into the water, surprising and scaring the Tentacool. It released Selene and fled.

Thinking fast, Masquerain shot an Ice Beam into the water, hoping it would go underneath her body and float her upwards. The ice floated up by him uselessly, not even bumping her.

_Oh, why didn’t Golisopod come with us?!_ Masquerain suddenly wished he was still a Surskit.

Not seeing another way, Masquerain plunged in after Selene, using his wings like paddles. He managed to get underneath her and push her up to the surface. Unable to fly with sodden wings, he held his breath and swam with Selene on top of his head, making sure her head didn’t go under. When he reached the beach a while later, Guzma was waiting with Ariados.

“Did ya find it, Masquerain? What are you doing?” He called out upon seeing his Pokémon struggling to get to them faster.

His vague annoyance turned into alarm as he stared at the waterlogged bundle of fur before him. He would have mistaken her for dead if not for the rise and fall of her sides with every shallow breath. It was awful, but something about the sight made him want to grab something and smash it. Normally watching others suffer and cower in fear made him feel giddy, but not this. He had hurt plenty of people and Pokémon, but never had he seen one die.

Masquerain and Ariados shifted around uncomfortably, watching their trainer stare at Selene with a creepy expression on his face. Though they loved and were loyal to him, sometimes even they were wary of Guzma’s actions. Ariados gently prodded Guzma, grabbing his attention.

“What’s up?” Ariados looked up at his trainer with soulful eyes, communicating all that needed to be said.

“…Right. I’ll take care of this, then.”

Guzma scooped Selene up from the sand, digging into his pockets for a pokeball. He pressed the button against her nose, causing her to turn into energy that was drawn inside the device. He held the pokeball tightly, almost like he wanted to crush it in his palm. His mouth a hard line, he gestured for Masquerain and Ariados to follow him as he headed back towards what he thought of as home.

-

When she woke up next, Selene didn’t know what to think. Her body had been able to rest some, but now her head hurt badly. She opened her eyes, disappointed to see she was back inside the mansion. But even worse than that, Guzma was standing, staring at something from his throne across the room. The look in his eyes really scared her.

“Don’t disappoint me again, or you know what’ll happen.”

“I won’t boss, I promise!”

A male grunt was groveling on the floor, looking pretty beat up. Selene had remembered when talking with some of Team Skull before how Guzma would punish them when they did something to make him angry. She turned her head to see a pokeball lying next to her, the surface slightly cracked. In his fury, Guzma had whipped it at the grunt as a last retribution for whatever the poor kid had done, causing Selene to pop out of it.

He booted the grunt out of the room, slamming the door behind him with a cruel laugh. When he turned back to go do whatever else, he noticed Selene cowering, pressing herself up against the wall.

“What, are you gonna disappoint me too? Quit shaking, it makes ya look weak.”

“Vul…” She couldn’t believe she back here again, where she started. What was she thinking, trying to swim all the way back? And now that he had her again, what exactly was Guzma going to do with her? Selene imagined being forced to fight against one of Guzma’s Pokémon, or maybe undergo a beating just like the grunt? She could imagine him picking her up by the scruff and doing whatever he wanted. She shivered at the thought.

It also dawned on Selene that she had no good means of defense. Aside from claws and sharp teeth, she had nothing. She had no idea how to use moves on purpose – she had accidentally burned Guzma’s face before, but it was so weak he had recovered from it already. How could she possibly protect herself, let alone Lillie and Cosmog when the time came to fight?

What could she do now? Selene felt a wave of anxiety wash over her.

Guzma had grown more annoyed when she didn’t pay attention to him, and so he stalked over to her, his shadow looming over her small frame.

“You’re going to start listening to me, or ya won’t like what happens, I can tell you that.”

Selene let out a small whimper as she felt his large hands grasp the fur on her neck, sure that her fear would come true.

But Guzma had something else in mind.

“Hmph. You know, I haven’t seen you fight yet. Maybe if I work you a little you’ll listen to me?”

He called out for Golisopod, who was actually somewhere in the mansion instead of in his pokeball. The lumbering creature could be heard barreling his way through several grunts before reaching the master bedroom, standing to attention for his trainer’s command.

“Hey, bud. I need you to come with me to our training grounds.” He grinned, holding up Selene in front of Golisopod’s face. “This one here needs to learn how we do things around here.”

Golisopod nodded, but felt some pity for the small creature. It looked like it hurt a little to be held like that.

They headed out, Guzma telling Plumeria and some grunts he was going out for a while as he passed by.

-

The training grounds were on top of the odd little mountain crop just outside of Po Town. The long yellow grass waved in the wind, Fearow scattering as Guzma and Golisopod made the trek up. Guzma had forced Selene to return to her ball, which unfortunately did not break when he had thrown it. It was either that, or he carry her by the fur on her neck the whole time.

He sent her back out as soon as they reached the clearing at the top. Selene could see why they trained there, it was often out of the rain and somewhat secluded. Nobody would bother them up here.

“Okay, Vulpix. You stand in front of me since I’ll be directing you. Golisopod, I need you to be opposite of us, and you’re going to play defense. Got it?”

Guzma pulled out an old Pokedex from his pocket, pointing it at Selene. He stared at the screen for a few moments before frowning and putting it away.

“Vulpix, let me see you use Quick Attack!”

Selene glanced back at him nervously, not sure what to do. She didn’t want to make him angrier than he already was.

Running as fast as she could, Selene slammed herself into Golisopod with a painful thud. He looked down at her with a slightly amused expression. He wasn’t hurt at all.

Guzma could tell that wasn’t quite right, so he told her to use a different move instead.

“Tail Whip!”

The same result. Selene tried her best, but her six fluffy tails couldn’t do much to hurt Golisopod.

“Baby-Doll Eyes! I know you can do that one!”

She wasn’t really sure what he meant by that, but Guzma was clearly exasperated when her efforts did nothing. Nothing at all was happening so far – the usual flair of a move was completely absent. Golisopod, oddly enough, lowered his hard-plated arms a little.

One last try.

“Use Ember!” He roared out the command this time, startling her severely.

Selene stared ahead at Golisopod. He stared back, antennae twitching. She took in a deep breath, trying to drum up any sort of power she could, then let it loose. With a cry, a weak stream of flame shot out of her jaws. It wasn’t a lot, but it was something. She almost felt proud of herself for a second, but Guzma was not happy. Not even when he trained up Wimpod into Golisopod had he seen a weaker display of power. It concerned him, by which to say it made him somewhat angry.

“What!? Is that really the best you can do?”

Selene hung her head low as she glanced back at Guzma, then Golisopod. The giant bug went up to her, now out of battle mode.

“It seems like you’re having trouble.”

“Golisopod, I have no idea how to do this!” She whined, frustrated.

“You mean you’ve never fought before?”

Selene pawed at the earth, ears flat against her head. “I just…don’t know how to use moves. I’ve never known how everybody else does it.”

The hulking insect was quite surprised by this confession. It was odd for a Pokémon not to know how to fight, but even stranger to not be able to defend itself at all. He held up a claw to her, as if to say “one minute”, then went over to Guzma, who didn’t know what to do.

Some sort of conversation took place between them, with Guzma nodding in understanding but still with a scowl. Golisopod turned back to Selene, gesturing for her to follow him.

He was not known to be a kind Pokémon, but Golisopod had really taken a liking to the little fox. His species was the type that would do whatever it takes to win, but if an opponent could not fight back, then what was the point of a battle?

He had an idea of how to teach her, and so led them back out into the clearing, but this time they stood side by side.


	6. Chapter 6

“You and I are opposite types, but we both use our power in the same way. Watch.”

Golisopod focused his entire body, assuming a sort of stance. He took a deep breath, and then shot out a blast of water into the air.

“See? You should be able to do the same thing, but with fire. Try it.”

Selene was beyond confused.

“But I don’t know what to do!”

“Start by putting your body in a position that makes you feel powerful. Try crouching, or standing up tall and straight. Whichever works for you.”

Accepting his guidance, Selene moved herself into several positions until she was in one that felt right. Head down low, ears forward, all four limbs braced for action.

“Alright. Now take the deepest breath you can manage, slowly. If you don’t force it, you should feel power welling up inside of you.”

It felt very odd, but he was right. A slight burning sensation had begun in Selene’s stomach, but it wasn’t painful. The strangeness of it made her breath hitch, however, and her focus was interrupted. The burn went away as quickly as it began.

Golisopod worked with Selene for a long while on just the breathing, as she needed to get used to the burning feeling. Guzma sat off to the side, watching but not saying anything. The sight of his Pokémon guiding another reminded him of when he was a child, studying under the tutelage of Kahuna Hala. He didn’t really like to think about his childhood, but would admit there were good parts to it that were sometimes forgotten in the worst of his memories.

He didn’t really care anymore what they all thought of him. What he had become. He was who he wanted to be, the big, bad boss of a team who both feared and loved him for who he was. That mattered far more than any dumb position as Island Captain, right? He reasoned with himself that even if he did become a captain, it wouldn’t be forever anyway. It would only be for a couple of years at this point. But being the boss? That’s a lifetime position that no one could take away from him.

No one.

While Guzma’s thoughts were running wild, Selene had successfully completed an Ember for the first time.

She and Golisopod both cheered, ripping Guzma’s attention away from his frustration. Selene was yipping and running circles around the big bug while he rumbled, egging her on to do it again. Guzma cracked a small smile as he paid attention this time, a whirling blaze of fire shooting out of the little creature’s jaws. He couldn’t help but admire the power on display.

He really wasn’t fond of fire types – for obvious reasons due to the type disadvantage, but also because the ones in Alola weren’t his favorite. Salazzle was cool, but only because Plumeria had one. Otherwise, it creeped Guzma out that only the females evolved, and the males were stuck in their far weaker forms as slaves to Salazzle. If there were a part bug, part fire type, Guzma would be all over that, but none existed in Alola as far as he was aware.

Vulpix, on the other hand, was not native to Alola as a fire type and was as far away from a bug as you could get. Cute and fluffy, it just wasn’t his thing. He was disappointed that Selene knew two attacking moves and two status moves. Guzma was fonder of Pokémon that were skillful attackers, that way he could beat down opponents in far less time than most other trainers. It also helped to be intimidating, which again Vulpix was not. Ninetails, on the other hand…

“Oof! Hey, watch it!”

Golisopod had noticed that his trainer seemed to be spacing out a little, and told Selene to try a Quick Attack on him. Not quite adept at the maneuver, she had smacked into his side and fallen over before scrambling to her feet. Now she stood next to him, excitement fading as his scowl returned.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve, doing that! If you weren’t on my team, I’d punt you right off this cliff.” He said this, but a grin slowly widened across his face. He reached out and ruffled her forelocks in a playful manner before switching his attention to Golisopod.

Guzma pitted Selene against Golisopod once more, eager to see how much she could withstand.

The fight didn’t last long, but he expected that. Guzma had noticed that the Pokedex scan said Selene was really young, due to the color on the ends of her tails. He was also surprised to learn that she was female, as all the rest of his team were males. He simply couldn’t expect her to be able to go up against a vastly more experienced Pokémon like Golisopod or Pinsir and do a lot of damage. He stopped the fight just before Selene could take no more, and praised both her and Golisopod before heading back to Po Town for a rest and to get something to eat.

-

Dinner time in Po Town was sad, to say the least. The Shady House kitchen and larder were often empty, due to it being raided out a long time ago. They couldn’t keep anything cold in the larder unless somebody had an ice type like Vanillite, so most of the time it was bags of cheap chips and cans of soup that were the standard stock. Team Skull as a whole didn’t really have money, due to their status as hooligans and outcasts as well as being terrible trainers. So, often members of Team Skull would simply attempt to steal from tourists or the Thrifty Megamart to get by, even fighting Crabrawler and other wild Pokémon for the piles of berries that fell from trees.

Guzma and Plumeria did what they could to help out with the situation, taking it upon themselves to distribute earnings from their battles to the grunts so everyone could buy some food and other necessities. But there were so many of them, it didn’t add up to much.

Selene observed several fights break out over food, between both people and Pokémon. She felt weirdly privileged to be up in the master bedroom of Shady House, eating with Guzma’s Pokémon in peaceful silence. Well, not exactly peaceful. Pinsir and Scizor had begun to fight, apparently Pinsir had swiped something was Scizor was about to eat, and now they were a hair away from an all-out brawl. Guzma yelled at them to quit it, but it didn’t work. After a few seconds, Guzma suddenly picked up Selene and held her like she was a machine gun.

“Vulpix, Ember!”

Selene glanced up at him briefly, but did as he asked. A small whirl of flame spewed forth from her jaws, separating the two bugs. They both hopped backwards from the fire, eyes widened in fear. Selene felt bad, but at least they stopped fighting.

“Ha. Good job, Vulpix.” Guzma was pleased that Selene had improved so quickly, all thanks to Golisopod.

As soon as she was set down, Selene found that everyone except for Golisopod had moved far away from where she was sitting.

_Am I really that scary to them?_ She wasn’t quite friends with the bugs, but still the thought of scaring them so much made her upset. How could Guzma live his life enjoying making others frightened of him? It felt terrible.

-

She was running out of time. Selene dreamed that night of swimming miles and miles through the ocean to save a boat full of everyone she ever cared about, but never being able to catch up to it. The cries for help were drowned out by the tumultuous waves, and soon a massive Tentacruel bobbed up from the depths of the waters and dragged her down, her vision going black. She knew she was dead.

Upon awakening, Selene blinked in confusion, as something was pressed up against her side that wasn’t there before. Craning her neck, she made out in the darkness that it was Golisopod. He normally sat on the floor to sleep, but now he rested his head on the edge of the bed where Selene was curled up. It made her smile, knowing that he trusted her.

She shifted, putting her head on her paws. The dream had felt like a warning. When was she going to get another opportunity to leave this sad place and get back to the Professor, and Lillie? Who knew how long it would take before the Aether Foundation found them?

This all felt so stupid. If the legendary Pokemon hadn’t turned her into such a useless little ball of fluff, she wouldn’t even be worrying about it right now. Why not a Pidgey? Or a Squirtle, or something that could easily travel across the Islands? Did they not have a choice in the matter of what, exactly, she turned into?

She told herself to stop thinking about it. There was no use in being frustrated about something she couldn’t change. Not when so much was at stake. So she thought of another escape plan instead.

_Okay. I need to just leave. But I can’t swim that far…_

But Team Skull did have a boat; that much she knew. Maybe with a little bit of convincing with her fire, a Grunt could possibly drive her over to a different island? It was possible.

Maybe Golisopod would help her with it, too. Frame going on a boat ride as an adventure, an opportunity to get away from Po Town for a little while.

As Golisopod sighed in his sleep beside her, she felt a twinge of anxiety in her chest.

_If this doesn’t work, I don’t know what I’ll do!_

_-_

In the early hours of the morning, Selene had somehow managed to convince Golisopod that it would be a great idea to go watch the sunrise from the beach outside Po Town. He was very grumpy at first, but warmed up to the idea. He wasn’t quite sure when he’d last seen a sunrise. And, he thought it was cute that Selene was so excited about it. The only stipulation he had with it was that she wanted to go without letting Guzma know.

“But we’ll be back before he even wakes up! Come on – when do you guys ever get to do something without him around?”

Their arguing over this had woken up the rest of the bugs, and now they wanted to go too. There was a big commotion as they all started talking over each other, worrying about what the Boss would do if he woke up and they were all missing. Selene decided to start going ahead, permission granted or not, and opened the door without much difficulty.

“Well, if you guys can’t decide I’m just going to go! See ya!”

With that, everyone stared as she scampered down to the door of the mansion. They all looked at one another, then filed out the door in a hurried fashion while casting glances at their still-snoring trainer.

-

As the sunlight began to glimmer across the ocean’s horizon, Selene couldn’t believe how nice it was to get out of the rain and wind. She was tired of either being inside the stuffy, smelly mansion or being waterlogged with rain. The others seemed to agree.

Selene stared hard at the water as it slowly turned to a rainbow of different colors, then suddenly averted her gaze to Golisopod, who sat in the sand beside her.

“Hey, don’t Team Skull have a boat?”

“Hm? Yes, we do. It’s hidden behind some rocks right now but it’s there. You’re not about to suggest something, are you?”

“No…Well, I was just wondering, since we’re having such a good time right now…”

“Yeah?”

“That we could all go for a little boat ride to another Island? Akala, Melemele…”

Golisopod sighed deeply, the expression in his eyes slightly pained. “You want to run away again, is that it? You don’t need to trick me.”

Selene was surprised. She felt bad, but needed to be honest now.

“Yes. Please, can you help me? There’s a person I need to go back to, she’s in danger!”

Golisopod was silent.

“I know I’m being selfish, I know…but getting to Melemele Island is extremely important to me. My old trainer cares about me as much as Guzma cares you guys, in fact these past few days I bet she’s been worried sick!”

The others gathered around, waiting for Golisopod’s answer. He hesitated, knowing what would happen when Guzma found she was gone.

He eventually stood up and headed for the shore, the tips of his black toes dipping in the water.

“You don’t need the boat, I’ll just take you instead. Hop up on my back and we can go.”

Selene didn’t know how to thank him, but she was so happy all her tails wagged wildly. She couldn’t believe it.

With a strange farewell to Ariados, Pinsir, Scizor, and Masquerain, Selene nestled herself in between the hulking insect’s back plates, and off they were.


End file.
